Peace
by YoureMyTicket
Summary: Robert claimed to be civil to Tom for Sybil's sake, but what happens when Sybil is no longer there? An end of 3x05 re-write concerning the aftermath and some of the reactions of Tom and the Crawleys.
1. Part I

Peace

Tom took Sybil's wedding ring out of his pocket and squeezed it in his hand as he felt a fresh wave of tears coming on. He thought the pain of the rim of the ring biting into his palm and fingers would keep the tears at bay as he watched the car containing his beloved wife's body drive away. The ring turned out to be too small compared to his hand to cause much pain, but it gave him something else to think about.

Tom had decided to keep her ring when the men had first arrived and it had seemed as if a clock had started ticking in his head, counting down until they would take her away. His mind had become overwhelmed, trying to think of anything he needed or wanted to do before they got there, but all he kept seeing was flashes of memories, both good and bad.

One of those memories was their wedding. Tom had taken her hand in his. He hated how cold it was. He had looked at the gold band on her fourth finger and thought about keeping it for himself. Would she have wanted him to leave it on her though? Sybil did like to play with it and twist it around her finger. He tried to imagine what she would have said. When the men knocked on the door and time had run out, he kissed her hand and then slid the ring off.

Once the car disappeared into the distance, Robert turned to his own wife, "Cora—"

"Tom," Cora cut across him, "would you accompany me to the nursery?" She turned her back against her husband and took the arm of the man who was once their chauffeur. Tom merely nodded at her before leading her inside.

Matthew, Mary, and Edith followed them into the house, leaving Robert alone outside with Carson. Robert let out a sigh before finally heading back in. He heard Mary and Edith informing their brother-in-law and mother that they would be in their rooms if they needed them as he headed straight for the library and his brandy.

The sky had already begun to darken by the time Robert left the library. When he reached the top of the stairs, he heard a door close. Then, as he started walking down the hallway, he saw a figure approaching from the other end. Branson.

Robert had just spent the entire time in the library thinking about how everything had gone wrong since the Irishman had decided to apply for a job here, how the whole house would not be in mourning if that man had never entered their lives, and there he was, still living and still here.

Robert started to clap. "Well done. Well done." He stopped once Branson came to a half in front of him. "I hope you're happy now."

The young widower just stared at the floor.

Robert continued. "You must really hate our kind in order to go through all this. Get a job here, seduce one of the daughters, and then marry into the family just so you could take us down from the inside." He took a step closer. "Tell me, was it easy, did you have fun luring her into your trap? Tell me!"

Tom flinched but kept his head down. His only response was a soft, "I loved her."

Tom heard the Earl of Grantham yell as he was roughly pushed against the wall. His arms were pinned down, but it was pointless. Tom had never been known to be the first person to throw a punch and now, well, he cared very little for defending the life he had now.

Tom looked up into his father-in-law's eyes. They were wild with hatred. "I'm sorry."

Robert released one of Tom's arms and spit out, "This is all your fault!" before punching him in the face.

Tom closed his eyes at the pain in his jaw and the back of his head from hitting against the wall. "I know. Please."

Robert threw another punch. "All I asked you to do was drive! Why did you have to take her away from me!"

Robert turned at the sound of a voice, "Papa? Papa is that you?"

"What is going on?" asked another voice, a male one. Mary and Matthew were coming to see what all the commotion was.

"If I had known this would happen, I would have left her alone." He turned back to Branson, whose face was red and had a line of blood coming from the corner of his lip.

"I loved h—" Lord Grantham's final punch knocked Tom to the floor. Something small dropped out of his hand as he fell.

"Tom! Papa, what are you doing!"

Through blurry vision, Tom saw Matthew pushing Lord Grantham away and then Mary leaning over him before everything went black.

* * *

A/N

1. I have not written any fanfic in a long time, and I know I am very rusty, so critique is welcome, especially since there will be a second part to this and I am working on other, (more cheerful) stories!

2. I wanted to return to fanfic starting with this one since this chapter is a bit dark and I wanted to sort of get it out of the way. I just wanted to have this kind of reaction between Tom and Robert after Sybil's death because I was really disappointed with how all of Robert's pent up aggression and the tension between them pretty much dissolved (and Robert starts talking over him as if he just went back to being a servant) even though I think it would have been interesting to explore on the show.


	2. Part II

Tom groaned when he came to. His jaw ached. He raised his hand to his face and felt a bag of ice. He tried to remember how he got to be in bed with an aching head but his thoughts were muddled. He could not tell which memories had actually happened, and to be honest, he did not want find out.

"Ah, you've awoken."

Tom decided he must still be dreaming if that was the Dowager Countess he just heard speak. He held the bag of ice to his jaw as he turned onto his left side and then finally opened his eyes.

There she was though, sitting in a chair next to his bed. She spoke again, "I daresay that was probably the deepest sleep you've had in days, however short it was."

"What's going on? What-" His voice scratched against his dry throat.

To his surprise, the Dowager handed him a glass of water from his bedside table.

Tom put down the bag of ice, took the glass from her, and drank. "What are you doing here? I mean, with me, your Ladyship?"

She looked down and exhaled. "I received a call, asking me to come to Downton as soon as possible, because Robert was..." She looked up at Tom, "very upset and had hurt you. So, after I saw my son, I came here, to your room, so that I would be here when you woke up."

"But why?" He still did not understand why the Dowager Countess of all people would be attending to his bedside.

The Dowager lifted her hand to stop his questioning. She needed to say this. "I wanted to be the first person you saw. I wanted to tell you that I am sorry. Not only for what Robert has done, but for everything that has happened to you. Robert knows what he did was wrong and he will apologize when _you_ are ready to see him." She slightly tilted her head down while still keeping eye contact. "They say love can make a person do crazy things but so can grief." She paused, "I also wanted to firmly assure you that Sybil's death was not your fault."

Tom spoke up. "But it must have."

"No—"

Tom forcefully cut her off. "It was MY stupid actions that made her flee Ireland and come here! The journey, the stress, it-it must have been too much for her." When Tom spoke again, it seemed as if the Dowager was no longer there and he was talking to himself. "I was supposed to free her, be her ticket away from this goddamn place, but I failed her!" Tom looked up, he was fuming now, "Is this my punishment?! For thinking I could make something of myself and marry the woman I love? For thinking I knew what a harsh world was? IS THIS MY PUNISHMENT!" He threw his glass of water at the wall to Violet's left and then buried his head in his hands as he started sobbing.

The Dowager Countess never once flinched. She knew not to interrupt him, that he needed to get it out of his system.

When Tom's crying started to slow down a bit, she got up from her chair and sat next to him on the bed. She put a hand on his shoulder. "You are not being punished. You are not because it was not your fault. No one caused this terrible terrible thing to happen. You must understand that."

Tom was now taking deep breaths in between sobs, trying to believe her words as his head cleared. He put his hand into his pocket so that he could hold Sybil's ring, but it wasn't there. He tried the other one. Nothing.

He jumped up from the bed and searched every pocket he had as his eyes frantically looked around the room in case someone had put it down somewhere, but he still could not find it.

"Tom, what is it? What are you looking for?"

He was going out the door as she called his name again.

Tom scanned the hallway as he rushed back to the spot where he remembered having it last, just in case he was wrong.

He slowed down as he neared the area. He could not pinpoint the exact location where the confrontation had taken place, so he paused with each further step. "Come on, come on, please, don't do this." Nothing was catching his eye though.

Once he reached what he figured to be the farthest point it could have gone, he got down on his hands and knees and started working his way back.

"Mr. Branson?" Mrs. Hughes hurried over to him. "What is it you're looking for?"

Tom looked up at her with bleary eyes and in a choked voice answered, "Her ring. Her ring, I can't find her ring." And then continued searching.

Mary appeared behind Mrs. Hughes and in a low voice asked, "Did he say 'her ring'?"

"Yes, milady."

"I didn't know he had it."

Mrs. Hughes and Lady Mary simultaneously dropped down to the floor to help Tom find it.

It was only a couple of minutes before Mrs. Hughes made the claim, "I've got it!" The ring had been in front of a door to an empty guest room, sitting in the corner of where the door met the doorframe.

She held it up to Tom, who let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mrs. Hughes. Oh, thank you." He closed the gap between them and hugged the housekeeper. She was surprised at the contact at first, but quickly put her arms around him and returned it.

Once Tom stepped back, Mrs. Hughes placed the ring in his hand.

"Tom, your lip is bleeding." Mary informed them. He wiped some of it that had tricked down his chin away with his thumb. "The cut must have re-opened."

"I'll go fetch a fresh towel and some warm water, milady."

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Hughes, you've been a great help. I will bring him back to the room."

When they entered the room, Violet was back in her chair. waiting for them. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Tom sat down at the head of the bed and opened up his hand to show her the ring.

"It's Sybil's." Mary explained.

"Oh, no, we certainly wouldn't want to lose that. Did you see Mrs. Hughes? I rang the bell and sent her to help you."

"Yes, she was the one who found it actually." Mary sat down at end of the bed. She noticed the broken glass on the floor. Her eyes flickered over to Tom.

Violet noticed as well."Oh, that was me I'm afraid. When you get to be my age, you can lose your grasp on things quite easily." She knew that Mary wouldn't and didn't really believe her, but Mary said nothing about it.

"Tom?" Mary looked down at the ring. "Would you like me to get you a chain, to put the ring on? You could wear it around your neck then."

Tom nodded, "Yes, thank you."

There was a moment of silence then as each of them continued to stare at the ring and became lost in their own thoughts, but it was not long before Mary decided to say aloud the memory she was thinking of, "You know, the first night you two were here, for my wedding, I asked Sybil if she regretted leaving Downton and marrying you. She said, 'Never.' The next day though, she came over to me and asked if I remembered our conversation from the night before because there was something she regretted," Mary paused and the corners of her lips went up . "Not saying yes to you sooner."

A small smile appeared on Tom's face as he glided his finger along the ring.

"She said she was lucky that you didn't give up on her and leave. I hope you won't leave us either, Tom. I know we haven't been the most welcoming family, but we are family, especially now with your little girl, and we can change."

Violet gave a nod in agreement, "All of us can change."

Tom looked up at the Dowager and then Mary, "I won't, not for a while anyway."

"Good. And about the baby, does she have a name yet?" Violet asked tentatively.

Tom took a deep breath, "Her first name will be Sybil."

Violet smiled, "Of course. I don't think there could have been a better choice."

Tom was glad to have her approval, even though he did not need it. He then continued, "Her middle name will be Erin."

"Isn't that another name for Ireland?"

"Yes, and it also means 'peace'."

* * *

A/N: That's it! For those of you who were brave and read this, thanks, and an even bigger thanks to those of you who left a review. This one was kind of therapeutic for me and I'm excited about getting back into the writing game. The next one will be fluffy, I promise!


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